On behalf of the ISCT Early Stage Professionals (ESP) Community Engagement Working Group
How did your journey into cell and gene therapy (CGT) unfold? Was it a clear path from the outset – a natural progression from your degree, or did you pivot from another field? As the sector grows, more undergraduate students are learning about CGT success stories, but there are still very few educational institutions that offer formal CGT postgraduate programs.
Among the Community Engagement (Comm Eng) Working Group, some of us studied at universities associated with immune-oncology institutions where postgraduate projects in cell therapy were plentiful. Others of us moved across the world to chase CGT-centric projects, gradually upskilling and growing our network in order to (hopefully, maybe, one day) finally make our field debut. Or so I’ve heard…
After getting the gang together in Dublin, the Comm Eng Crew reflected on how to help undergraduate students identify pathways into cell and gene therapy and provide mentors with practical resources for supporting a student’s development.
The Community Engagement Working Group at the ISCT 2026 Scientific Annual Meeting in Dublin. Photo credit: Wei Jiang and the Comm Eng Crew.
Fuelled by Guinness and good company, we came up with some undergraduate resources that build and expand on the CGT Career Atlas. While our Career Atlas showcases the who and the what in CGT careers, detailing the positions available across various CGT specialties, the new tools explain how and where to find these opportunities. Our Mini-guide provides instructions students can follow to find postgraduate positions and reach out to potential supervisors, and the Course Compendium has an extensive list of CGT MSc and PhD opportunities. If a student’s not ready for a postgraduate project just yet, there’s even a Resource Hub with additional content to engage, entertain and educate: books, podcasts, and a list of CGT Summer Research Experiences!
Our new undergrad resources aim to facilitate postgraduate entry into cell and gene therapy programs.
Check out this fantastic work from Laura Barrachina Porcar, Manuela Romano, Thomas Spoerer, Ashley Gieger and Tamas Laufer here. Let’s grow the next generation of CGTers!
Undergraduate Resources: The Mini-guide provides a detailed overview of how to find CGT PhD opportunities and approach potential supervisors. The Course Compendium provides an expansive list of CGT PhD and MSc examples, and the Resource Hub has links to Summer Research Experiences, podcasts and books. Image generated with BioRender.
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